Hat blocking machine



HAT BLOCKING MACHINE Filed Dec. 4, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 16a 10 26 X l 2; 522 51 t 15141 I WWII MW; H'H H'W I 1 (John 6. fifob gooal INVENTOR 13 L BY wnuzss; ATTORNEY Oct. 24, 1933. c HQBGQQD 1,932,312

HAT BLOCKING MACHINE Filed Dec. 4, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 L]0;ZI1/ 6: 190 9 M BY%@%W% WWWWW SS Patented Get. 24, 1933 g UNITED'STATES PATENT orrlcr.

' 1,932,312 HAT BLOCKING MACHINE John C. Hobgocd, Lawren'ceville, Va. Application December 4, 1931. Serial No. 579,051 3 Claims. (01'. 223-28) The invention relates to machinery or devices Figure 6 is a horizontal cross section taken on designed for use in rejuvenating felt hats or the the line 6-6 of Figure 5. like and has for its general object the provision Referring more particularly to the drawings, of a novel power driven machine by means of the numeral 10 designates a suitable supporting 5- which a hat may be properly and eiiiciently stand, shelf or table upon which the entire mechasteamed and ironed upon a suitable form so that l s t b described is d- Suitably the brim will be properly shaped. cured upon this support or stand is the base 11 An important object of the invention is to proof an electric motor 12 which is arranged with vide a machine of this character. embodying an its shaft 13 to extend vertically. This shaft 10 electric motor driven support carrying the hat to carries a gear 14 or friction member engaging or be worked upon together with a horizontally meshing with a larger gear or friction member swingable and vertically swingable arm carrying 15 so as to drive the latter, this friction member a combined steaming and ironing or pressing 15 being carried by a shaft 16 journalled through member adapted to bear against the brim of the a bracket 17 extending laterally from the base 11. 15 hat as the hat itself is rotated. Suitably carried by the shaft 16 is a disk 16 Another object is to provide a device of this provided with upstanding pins l6 received withcharacter equipped with adjustable spring means in holes in a shell 18 have similarly or otherwise for insuring proper firm engagement of the com detachably mounted upon its top a form 19 adaptbined steaming and ironing member with the hat ed to receive the hat 20 to be worked upon, the

120 as the hat is rotated so that proper pressure may form being open at its center so as to receive be applied to the desired location at all times. the crown of the hat, the brim of which rests Yet another object is to provide a machine of upon the convexly curved'top surface 21 of the this character in which the ironing member may form. It is of course intended that different be electrically heated so as to effect drying out of shapes of forms be used depending upon the de 25 the hat subsequent to the steaming operation. sired contour to be given to the hat brim 22, it

An additional object is to provide an apparatus eing well known that some brims are much of this character which will be simple and inex flatter or less curved than others and that some pensive to make which will shift automatically in are, moreover, of quite different sizes. All of a lateral direction as the hat is rotated so as to these variations are intended to be taken care of 30 remain constantly in'engagement with the brim by having a series of plurality of the forms 19 or crown thereof, which will be eflicient and duany selected one of which may be placed upon rable in service, positive in action and a general the shell 18 depending upon the character, style or improvement in the art; v shape and size of the hat to be worked upon. With the above and other objects and advan- Moreover, the shell and form may be replaced by tages in view, the invention preferably consists a block adapted to engage upon pins 16 rising in the details of construction and the arrangefrom the disk, so that the crown of the hat may merit and combination of parts to be hereinafter be worked upon. Clearly, when the motor 12 is more fully described and claimed, and illustrated set into action the flange 18 carrying the form in the accompanying drawings, in which 19 and hat 20 will be rotated, the exact number 40 Figure 1 is a top plan view of the device-the of rotations per minute being immaterial but operativeposition of the arm and pressing membeing possibly in the neighborhood of 40. ber being shown by full lines and ahorizontally Mounted upon the support 10 in spaced relation swung away position being indicated by dotted to the base or bracket structure 11 is an upstandlines. 1 ing stationary support 23 having an ear 24 there- 45 Figure 2 is a side elevation of the machine with on to which is pivoted, as at 25, an car 26 on the the normal or operat ve po i o Of the pressing lower end of a socket member 27 within which is member and arm shown by full lines and the vertirotatably engaged a cylindrical shank 28 adapted cally disengaged position shown by dotted lines. to have limited rotary movement and carrying a 'Figure 3 is an enlarged detail section through coupling or reducer 29 from the largerend of I 50 the steaming member this view being taken on the which extends a pipe 30 connected'with a valve 1 0 line 3'-3 of Figure 2. I 31 to the opposite side of which is connected a Figure 4 is a detail section taken on the line second pipe 32 carrying the combined steaming 4-4 of Figure 3. and ironing device indicated as a whole by the Figure 51s a vertical section taken on substannumeral 33. The valve 31 is of the manually 55 tially the line 5-5 of Figure 2, and operative type and is represented as having a it being quite clear that this will noti'nterfere" with the rotary movement of the shank While at the same time it will be prevented from being moved upwardly. A torsion spring i37 surrounds? the shank 28 for normally urgingthe combined steamer and ironing device against the brimof the hat and this spring is disclosed as having one arm or end 38 engaged with the screw and its other arm or end engaged about the" coupling orreducer 29 as shown at 39. The pivot 25permits the entire'assembly comprised by the parts 26, 2'7, 28, 29, 30,31, 3'2and 33 to be moved bodily in a vertically swinging direction as will be quite apparent from an inspection of;,Figure 2 wherein this swung" position is illustrated by dotted lines at the right hand side of the figure.

The combined steaming and ironing device indicated-as a whole by the numeral'33 as above re' ferred to is represented as comprising a shell 40 which may be formed as a casting and of suitable metal and which has a curved bottom wall 41 adapted to fit conformingly against the hat brim 22 and convexed surface 21 of the form 19 so asto give the desired and proper shape to the hat brim. This shell 40 is shown as divided by a partition 42 into two separate compartments 43 and 44, the former being for steam and having a pipe 32 communicating or connected therewith,

, the bottom of this compartment being provided with aplurality of perforations 45 so that steam entering the compartment may pass through and into or onto and also through the brim 22 of the hat. Within the compartment 44 is a suitable electric heater 46' to which are connected wires 47 leading through a protective tube 48 mounted in suitable clips 49'. Moreover the steaming and ironing device 33 is'preferably provided witha handle 50" by means of which it may be easily moved.

Steam for thesteaming device or compartment43 may be obtained from a supplypipe 51 extending through the support 10' and equipped with a .valve 52 from which extends a flexible hose 53 connectedwith the smaller end of the coupling or reducer 29'. 7

Assuming that the device has been constructed as shown and described, the operation is as follows: The hat 20 to be worked upon is placed in inverted position upon the form 19 so that its brim 22 will lie upon the convexed curved top surface '21 thereof. Of course the crown of the, hat extends through the opening in the form and is located within the interior of the shell 18. g The operator thengrasps the handle 50 and moves the device comprised by the parts 26 to 50 into such position that the combined steaming and ironing device 33 will engage upon the upper surface of the brim22 as clearly shown in Figures 1 and 2. .The valves 52 and 34 must of course be opened so that steam will be supplied to the compartment 43 so that it may pass through the perforations 45 onto and through the brim of the hat. At the same time, the motor l2 is' set into action so that the gears 14 and-15 will cooperate to drive the shaft 16, shell 18, form 19 and hat 20. In view of the fact that the hat'is not circular but is always elliptical in shape it is apparent that as it rotates the device 33 moves alternately toward and away from the center of the hat but is always maintained in proper engagement therewith owing to the provision of the torsion spring 37. After the hat has made a few revolutions while steam issues from the perforations 45 it is apparent that the steamingaction will be suffic iently carried out that it may then be discontinued; The valve 34 may then be closed so that no further steam will be supplied to the brim and the action of the electric heater 46 will then b'e'such thatthe brim will be efiectually dried or ironed into the proper final shape.

From-'-the-fbregoing description and a study of thedraw ings, it will be apparent that I have thus provided a very simple and inexpensive device for the 'pur'po'se specified and one which will be highly efficient forthe purpose set forth. It is also clear thatif suchisdesired the "assembly comprised by the parts26'to' 50"may' be-swung vertically out of obstructing'relation to the'hat as shown by dotted'lines'in Figure 2. Moreover it'is apparent that the assemblycomprised by the parts 28 and 50 may move freely horizontally in accordance with the oscillatory motion of the hat andmay alsobe pulled bodily awayfrom the hat in a lateral direction as shown by thedotted lines in Figure l. Th'esepossibilities together with the general operation should be readily apparent to one skilled in the art'from the foregoing without any necessity for further explanation;

While I have shown and described the preferred embodiment of the invention, itshould be under stood that'I reserve the right to'make all such changesin the detailsof construction as well as in the arrangement and combination of parts as will not depart from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the'subjoined claims.

Having thus described theinvention', I claim;

1'; In a machine of the character described, a power driven rotatable support carrying a centrally apertured form having a curved upper surface adapted to support a hat in inverted posi'-= tion with the hat brim upon the curved upper surface of the form, a stationary support, an up-. right socket pivoted upon said support for swinging movement about a horizontal axis, an arm structure having a depending trunnion mounted within said socket for rotation about a vertical axis, a combined steaming and pressing device carried by said arm and disposable in engagement with the hat brim, and torsion spring means connecting said socket member andthe armfor urging said steaming and pressing device into constant engagement withthe hat brim.

2. In amachine of the character described, a power driven rotatable support carrying a'centrally apertured form having a curved uppersurface adapted to support a hat in inverted position with the hat brim upon the curvedupper surface of the form, a stationary support, a socket provided at itslower end with an ear pivoted upon said support for swinging movement about a horizontal axis, anarm structure extending normally substantially horizontally and having a depending trunnion mounted for limited rotary movement within said socket about a vertical axis, a combined steaming and pressing device carried by saidarm and disposable in engagement with the hat brim, and a torsion springsurrounding'the trunnion and having'its ends connected with said socket-member and the arm for urging said steaming and pressing device into constant steam pipe connected with said coupling and carrying a combined pressing and ironing device, a control valve interposed in said pipe, said combined steaming and pressing device having separate compartments, one compartment being for steam, and the other containing an electric heater, and spring means cooperating with the shank and the coupling for maintaining the combined steaming and pressing device in engagement with the hat brim during rotationof the hat.

JOHN C. HOBGOOD. 

